Microsoft Sharpens Anti-Open Source Knives

As if anybody didn't know Microsoft Corp. opposed open source, the company initiated a new campaign against the software development model Thursday.

Microsoft's Craig Mundie was speaking about Microsoft's business model Thursday at the Stern School of Business at New York University. Mundie is a senior vice president at Microsoft and one of its software strategists.

In a copy of the speech obtained in advance by The New York Times, Mundie was to say that the General Public License (GPL) is a potential trap that undercuts the commercial software business and mirrors the give-it-away mentality that drove many dot-coms to ruin.

"The news here is that Microsoft is engaging in a serious way in this discussion," Mundie told The Times. "The open-source movement has continued to gather momentum in a PR sense and a product sense." – Scott Bekker